Eye on Seattle: Chris Sheridan

"She Takes Him To The River (to bring in the spring)" - Oil on canvas, 60" x 22"

Chris Sheridan's rich, expressive body of work, "Shadows, Persona, and Trickery," traces the thread of the human spirit through the ages, exploring the spiritual elements and religious symbols that framed our ancestors' lives. The myths and belief systems of the past reveal and explain much of our inner nature, yet are still so distant from our modern self-conception and view of the world. Their symbols are meaningless to us, yet undeniably an integral part of our being. Lifting rituals that have been lost to time and stories that have remained unspoken for generations, Sheridan investigates the great temporal divide that has swallowed so much of our collective heritage, as well as the aspects of human nature that have carried forward into the present day, such as our propensity for deception and manipulation.

The innate emotional and psychological drive to shape our reality into something comprehensible characterizes the human condition, from the magical thinking of primitive man to the empirical curiosity of scientists. Whether intentional or not, every human being indulges in deception by necessity. The multiple hands of Sheridan's figures personify this sleight of hand of the soul, the inheritance of our ancestors, the bridge between past and present, effectively unifying the contrasting elements of his figures' contemporary postures and clothing with ancient symbols and mythologies.